Power management

ABSTRACT

The present disclosure provides a power management apparatus, method and system. The apparatus comprises: a client management module for configuring power management client module(s) on one or more clients, the power management client module being for power management of the client; a data collector module for collecting, via the power management client module(s), data related to the power management of one or more user accounts on one or more clients; and a repository module for storing the collected data.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority from Chinese Patent Application NumberCN201410135607.0 filed on Mar. 28, 2014 entitled “APPARATUS, METHOD ANDSYSTEM FOR MANAGING POWER” the content and teachings of which is hereinincorporated by reference in its entirety.

FILED OF DISCLOSURE

Embodiments of the present invention relate to the field of powermanagement.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

With popularization and development of computer technology, computerapplications have spread across life and various industries. Under thepopular use of computers, especially under the trend of environmentsustainability, research in the field of computer power management hasgradually increased. For example, there is always a need to convenientlyswitch a computer to standby mode whenever a user leaves the computer.

In response to this need, there are provided some traditional powermanagement techniques. However, for an enterprise or an organizationconsisting of multiple clients, these traditional may in general failbecause:

(1) The power management of an individual computer is typically solomanaged that lacks of consistent tools and consensus standards. Forexample, the power management tools are variable from system to system,and the power policies usually depend on personal preference. One policymay be set to turn off monitor after 5 minutes computer idle; whileanother policy may be set to never turn off monitor regardless of thestate of a computer.

(2) The short of a mechanism to monitor, measure and track energyconsuming/saving in a centralized manner causes difficulties tostatistics, reporting, recognizing and data analytics.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

To solve the above-described problems in the prior art, the presentspecification proposes a method, an apparatus and a computer programproduct for power management, and more specifically for power managementin computer system.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Through the detailed description of some embodiments of the presentdisclosure in the accompanying drawings, the features, advantages andother aspects of the present disclosure will become more apparent,wherein identical reference number normally refers to the samecomponent.

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a power management system 100 accordingto one exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 shows a flowchart of a power management method 200 according toone exemplary embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of a computer system 300 which isapplicable to implement the embodiments of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

With reference to the accompanying drawings, more detailed descriptionis presented below to preferred embodiments of the present disclosure.Although several preferred embodiments of the present disclosure areshown in the accompanying drawings, it should be understand the presentdisclosure may be implemented in various forms and should not be limitedby the embodiments illustrated here. On the contrary, provision of theseembodiments is only to make the present disclosure more thorough andcomplete and to convey the scope of the present disclosure to thoseskilled in the art.

According to a first aspect of the embodiments of the presentdisclosure, there may be provided a power management apparatus,comprising: a client management module for configuring power managementclient module(s) on one or more clients, the power management clientmodule being for power management of the client; a data collector modulefor collecting, via the power management client module(s), data relatedto the power management of one or more user accounts on one or moreclients; and a repository module for storing the collected data. Each ofthe client management module, the power management client module and thedata collector module may be combined into a single power managementmodule (not shown in the Figure), which may be configured tocollectively perform the tasks of each of these individual modules.

In one optional implementation of the present disclosure, the apparatusfurther comprises at least one custom module, the custom modulecomprising: an analysis module for analyzing data stored in therepository module according to needs; a statistics/statistical modulefor making statistics on (generating statistical analysis) data storedin the repository module according to needs; and a reporting module forpresenting needed information. Each of these custom modules, theanalysis module, the statistics module and the reporting module can befurther combined into the power management module, which may beconfigured to collectively perform the tasks of each of these individualmodules.

In one optional implementation of the present disclosure, data stored inthe repository module further comprises configuration information of theclient which is collected by the client management module via the powermanagement client module.

In one optional implementation of the present disclosure, theconfiguring power management client module(s) on one or more clientscomprises: installing, managing or maintaining the power managementclient module(s) on the one or more clients.

In one optional implementation of the present disclosure, the powermanagement comprises switching a computer of the client to power savingmode.

In one optional implementation of the present disclosure, the data isstored in correlation with the one or more user accounts.

According to a second aspect of the embodiments of the presentdisclosure, there is provided a power management method, comprising:configuring power management client module(s) on one or more clients,the power management client module being for power management of theclient; collecting, via the power management client module(s), datarelated to the power management of one or more user accounts on one ormore clients; and storing the collected data. As disclosed earlier, eachof these separate modules may be combined into a single power managementmodule.

According to a third aspect of the embodiments of the presentdisclosure, there is provided a system for power management, comprising:power management client module(s) installed on one or more clients forpower management of the client; and a power management apparatusaccording to the first aspect of the present invention. As disclosedearlier, each of these separate modules may be combined into a singlepower management module.

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a power management system 100 accordingto one exemplary embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG.1, power management system 100 according to one exemplary embodiment ofthe present invention may comprise a power management apparatus 110 anda power management client module 120. Power management client module 120is installed on a client to manage power of the client. The powermanagement mentioned in the present disclosure may be configured to saveenergy by reducing energy consumption when the computer is idle (forexample, turning the computer to power saving mode or dormant mode).Those skilled in the art should understand each client has one powermanagement client module 120 installed thereon; where there are aplurality of client computers, accordingly there are a plurality ofpower management client modules 120. Power management apparatus 110 isusually located on a stand-alone server to manage the plurality of powermanagement client modules 120 in a centralized manner.

Power management apparatus 110 comprises a client management module 111for configuring power management client module(s) 120 on one or moreclients. As an example, power management apparatus 110 configuring powermanagement client module 120 may comprise installing, managing ormaintaining the power management client module(s) 120 on the one or moreclients. For example, client management module 111 may push a relevantapplication to a client computer and remotely install the application onthe client computer so as to create power management client module 120.In an implementation, power management client module 120 may integratewith other existing software management process andauthentication/authorization control, for example install software onthe client computer remotely. The type and version of an application maybe adjusted on the basis of a target computer environment. Themaintaining power management client module 120 may comprise operationslike periodically updating power management client module 120. It may beobserved that since power management client modules 120 on variousclient computers are under unified configuration and management ofclient management module 111, various power management client modules120 have a good consistent power management policy.

Power management apparatus 110 further comprises a data collector module112 for collecting, via power management client module(s) 120, powermanagement related data of one or more user accounts on one or moreclients. Optionally, the power management related data mentioned hereincludes, without limitation to, information on energy consumption ofthe client computer, and may vary on the basis of diverse applicationprotocols of the power management client. For example, a PowerManagement Client that tracks the amount of energy that may be saved bymanually switching a computer into low-energy model and querying tocollect data about saved energy.

Power management apparatus 110 further comprises a repository module 113for storing the collected data. Power management apparatus 110 maypersist (store) collected data into repository module 113. Repositorymodule 113 provides persisting capability to maintain the collected dataor other related and/or required information. Interfaces are built tosupport necessary functions of storing, query, search and etc.Optionally but not necessarily, the collected data may be stored incorrelation with a corresponding user account on a client. For example,where a plurality of users share one computer, the same client computermay contain a plurality of user accounts. At this point, there is a needto differentiate power management related data collected on this clientcomes from which user account, and data is stored in correlation withthe corresponding user account.

It may be observed that power management apparatus 110 and system 120according to one exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure enablesan enterprise or another organization to maintain a consistent policy ofpower management crossing variable computers and thus achieve consistentpower management.

Returning to FIG. 1, in an optional embodiment, power managementapparatus 110 may further comprise at least one custom module 114.Custom module 114 may be defined by a user and provides user neededsupplemental functions by making reference to data stored in repositorymodule 113. Those skilled in the art should understand that custommodule 114 is not essential and does not limit the scope of the presentdisclosure. As an example, custom module 114 may comprise one of moreof: an analysis module 1041 for analyzing data stored in the repositorymodule according to (e.g. user) needs; a statistics module 1042 formaking/generating statistics on data stored in the repository moduleaccording to (e.g. user) needs; and a reporting module 1043 forpresenting needed information (e.g. to the user). In addition, thecustom module may also comprise a tracking module 1044 for trackingenergy consumption etc.

Optionally, client management module 111 may additionally collectconfiguration information of a client via power management client module120, such as software and hardware configuration information on CPU,Operating System, memory and the like. The information may also bestored in repository module 113 by client management module 111 forsubsequent access. After additionally obtaining configurationinformation of the client, modules such as modules 1042 and 1043 mayfurther measure the amount of energy saved by this client, therebyforming more quantized information.

With reference to FIG. 1, the process of tracking, in a unified manner,energy saving behavior of individual computers by using system 100 isdescribed below.

1. Client management module 101 configures (e.g. Installs) powermanagement client modules 120 on a plurality of client computers, whichmay be implemented using existing IT solutions like authentication, pushsoftware. Note that power management client module 120 may comprisevarious types or versions that are suitable for different computerplatforms/OSs and may be changed to be applicable to various types ofcomputers. In addition, power management client module 120 may furtherbe designed such that by interacting with it (e.g., single click abutton), a user may immediately switch the computer into low-energymodel.

2. The user interacts with power management client module 120, forexample by click of a button, to switch the computer to low-energy modelwhenever he/she thinks it is necessary.

3. Data collector module 102 interacts with power management clientmodule 120 to collect client data, such as how often a certain user onthe client switches to low-energy model actively; how long the computeris kept in low-energy model; etc. Alternatively, client managementmodule 101 may also interact with power management client module 120 tocollect the client's configuration information, such as software andhardware configuration information on CPU, Operating System and memory.

4. All collected data or information may be correlated with othermetadata optionally. The metadata comprises user information or useraccount information and may be persisted into repository module 113.

5. Subsequently, some custom modules 114 provide more advanced serviceby consuming data stored in repository module 113. For example,statistics module 1043 is able to determine which user performs powermanagement most actively among all users for a given client or for agroup of clients or in general amongst all the clients. Analysis module1042 may analyze that amount of energy saved by the user on the clienton the basis of the client's configuration information and powermanagement related data. Reporting module 1041 may provide a graphicalrepresentation of the amounts of saved energy to the user in apresentable form as desired.

That is, by the above various exemplary implementations of the presentdisclosure, not only unified power management of a plurality of clientsis enabled, but also power management by various users may be learned byprocessing information like power management data collected from variousclients. Thereby, an incentive may be offered to a user performing powermanagement, and/or power management policies may be adjusted in aunified manner for achieving superior power management, etc.

It should be noted here that each of the separate modules describedabove may be advantageously combined into a single power managementmodule and the power management module can collectively perform thetasks associated to each of the individual modules in a desired order orpredefined order to achieve the end result of better power management.

FIG. 2 shows a flowchart of a power management method 200 according toone exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

After method 200 starts, the flow first proceeds to step S202 ofconfiguring power management client module(s) on one or more clients,the power management client module being for power management of theclient.

Then method 200 proceeds to step S204 of collecting, via the powermanagement client module(s), data related to the power management of oneor more user accounts on the one or more clients.

Method 200 proceeds to step S206 of storing the collected data.

Optionally, method 200 may further comprise at least one of: analyzingthe stored data according to needs; making/generating statistics on thestored data according to needs, such as user needs or organization needsor clients' needs etc.; and presenting required information to a user asdesired by the user.

In one optional implementation of the present disclosure, the storeddata further comprises configuration information of the client which iscollected via the power management client module.

In one optional implementation of the present disclosure, theconfiguring power management client module(s) on one or more clientscomprises: installing, managing or maintaining the power managementclient module(s) on the one or more clients.

In one optional implementation of the present disclosure, the powermanagement comprises switching a computer of the client to power savingmode.

In one optional implementation of the present disclosure, the data isstored in correlation with the one or more user accounts.

Method 200 ends.

FIG. 3 shows an exemplary block diagram of a computer system which isapplicable to implement the embodiments of the present disclosure. Asshown in FIG. 3, the computer system includes: a CPU (Central ProcessingUnit) 301, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 302, a ROM (Read Only Memory)303, a system bus 304, a hard disk controller 305, a keyboard controller306, a serial interface controller 307, a parallel interface controller308, a monitor controller 309, a hard disk 310, a keyboard 311, a serialperipheral device 312, a parallel peripheral device 313 and a monitor314. Among these devices, connected to the system bus 304 are the CPU301, the RAM 302, the ROM 303, the hard disk controller 305, thekeyboard controller 306, the serial interface controller 307, theparallel interface controller 308 and the monitor controller 309. Thehard disk 310 is coupled to the hard disk controller 305; the keyboard311 is coupled to the keyboard controller 306; the serial peripheraldevice 312 is coupled to the serial interface controller 307; and theparallel peripheral device 313 is coupled to the parallel interfacecontroller 308; and the monitor 314 is coupled to the monitor controller309.

It should be understood that the structural block diagram in FIG. 3 isshown only for illustration purpose, and is not intended to limit thescope of the present disclosure. In some cases, some devices may beadded or reduced as required.

In particular, besides hardware embodiments, the embodiments of thepresent disclosure may also be implemented in a form of a computerprogram product. For example, apparatus 110 as described with referenceto FIG. 1 and method 200 as described with reference to FIG. 2 may beimplemented via a computer program product. This computer programproduct may be stored in RAM 302, ROM 303, hard disk 310 and/or anysuitable storage medium as illustrated in FIG. 3, or downloaded tocomputer system 300 from a suitable location in the network. Thecomputer program product may comprise computer code portions comprisingprogram instructions that may be executed through a suitable processingdevice (for example, CPU 301 as shown in FIG. 3). The programinstruction at least may comprise: an instruction for configuring powermanagement client module(s) on one or more clients, the power managementclient module being for power management of the client; an instructionfor collecting, via the power management client module(s), data relatedto the power management of one or more user accounts on the one or moreclients; and an instruction for storing the collected data.

The spirit and principle of the present disclosure have been illustratedby means of several concrete embodiments. According to the embodimentsof the present disclosure, a consistent power management policy isenabled by means of centralized power management of various clients; byperforming operations like analysis, statistics, tracking and reportingto the collected data related to power management, much deeperinformation can be obtained and more advanced services can be provided.

It should be noted that, the embodiments of the present disclosure canbe implemented in software, hardware or the combination thereof. Thehardware part can be implemented by a dedicated logic; the software partcan be stored in a memory and executed by a proper instruction executionsystem such as a microprocessor or a design-specific hardware. One ofordinary skill in the art may understand that the above-mentioned methodand system may be implemented with a computer-executable instructionand/or in a processor controlled code, for example, such code isprovided on a bearer medium such as a magnetic disk, CD, or DVD-ROM, ora programmable memory such as a read-only memory (firmware) or a databearer such as an optical or electronic signal bearer. The apparatusesand their modules in the present invention may be implemented byhardware circuitry of a very large scale integrated circuit or gatearray, a semiconductor such as logical chip or transistor, or aprogrammable hardware device such as a field-programmable gate array ora programmable logical device, or implemented by software executed byvarious kinds of processors, or implemented by combination of the abovehardware circuitry and software such as firmware.

The communication network as mentioned in this specification maycomprise various kinds of networks, including but not limited to localarea network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), an IP-protocol basednetwork (for example Internet), and a peer-to-peer network (for examplead hoc peer network).

It should be noted that although a plurality of units or subunits of theapparatuses have been mentioned in the above detailed depiction, suchpartitioning is merely non-compulsory. In actuality, according to theembodiments of the present disclosure, the features and functions of twoor more units above described may be embodied in one unit. On thecontrary, the features and functions of one unit above described may befurther partitioned to be embodied in more units.

Although the present disclosure has been depicted with reference to aplurality of embodiments, it should be understood that the presentdisclosure is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. On the contrary,the present disclosure intends to cover various modifications andequivalent arrangements included in the spirit and scope of the appendedclaims. The scope of the appended claims meets the broadest explanationsand covers all such modifications and equivalent structures andfunctions.

What is claimed is:
 1. A power management apparatus, comprising: a powermanagement module, on a computing device, for configuring powermanagement on one or more clients separate from the computing device, adata collector module configured for collecting data, via the powermanagement module, related to the power management of one or more useraccounts on the one or more clients, wherein the data collector moduleis further configured for: analyzing an amount of energy saved by theone or more users on the one or more clients based on configurationinformation of the one or more clients; managing power usage of each ofthe one or more clients based on information related to the collecteddata, wherein the collected data includes software configurationinformation and hardware configuration information relating to each ofthe one or more clients; and providing a subset of the collected data tothe one or more users associated with the one or more user accounts; anda client management module, on the computing device, for configuring thepower management module on the one or more clients, wherein configuringthe power management module comprises maintaining the power managementmodule on the one or more clients by periodically updating the powermanagement module; a one-click utility configured to allow the one ormore users to manage power usage associated with the one or more useraccounts; and a repository module configured for storing the collecteddata.
 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising at leastone custom module, wherein the at least one custom module comprises: ananalysis module, on the computing device, configured for analyzing datastored in the repository module according to the one or more user'sneeds; a statistical module, on the computing device, configured formaking statistics on data stored in the repository module according tothe one or more user's needs; a reporting module, on the computingdevice, configured for presenting information to the one or more user asdesired; and a tracking module, on the computing device, configured fortracking energy consumption.
 3. The apparatus according to claim 2,wherein the data stored in the repository module comprises theconfiguration information of the one or more clients.
 4. The apparatusaccording to claim 1, further configured for wherein configuring thepower management module further comprises: installing and managing thepower management module on the one or more clients.
 5. The apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein the power management comprises switching acomputer of the one or more clients to a power saving mode.
 6. Theapparatus according to claim 1, wherein the data is stored incorrelation with the one or more user accounts.
 7. A power managementmethod, comprising: configuring, from a computing device, a powermanagement module on one or more clients, separate from the computingdevice, for power management of the one or more clients; providing aone-click utility configured to allow one or more users to manage powerusage associated with one or more user accounts; collecting, via thepower management module, data related to the power management of the oneor more user accounts on the one or more clients, wherein collectingdata includes: analyzing an amount of energy saved by the one or moreusers on the one or more clients based on configuration information ofthe one or more clients; managing power usage of each of the one or moreclients based on information related to the collected data, wherein thecollected data includes software configuration information and hardwareconfiguration information relating to each of the one or more clients;and providing a subset of the collected data to the one or more usersassociated with the one or more user accounts; and configuring, from thecomputing device, a client management module for configuring the powermanagement module on the one or more clients, wherein configuring thepower management module comprises maintaining the power managementmodule on the one or more clients by periodically updating the powermanagement module; storing, via a repository module, the collected data.8. The method according to claim 7, further comprising at least onecustom module, wherein the at least one custom module is configured for:analyzing, via an analysis module, on the computing device, the storeddata according to the needs of the one or more users; making statistics,via a statistical module, on the computing device, on the data stored inthe repository module according to the needs of the one or more users;and presenting information, via a reporting module, on the computingdevice, to the one or more users as desired; and tracking, via atracking module, on the computing device, energy consumption.
 9. Themethod according to claim 8, wherein the data stored in the repositorymodule comprises the configuration information of the one or moreclients.
 10. The method according to claim 7, wherein configuring thepower management module further comprises further comprises: installingand managing the power management module on the one or more clients. 11.The method according to claim 7, wherein the power management comprisesswitching a computer of the one or more clients to a power saving mode.12. The method according to claim 7, wherein the data is stored incorrelation with the one or more user accounts.
 13. A system for powermanagement, comprising: a power management module installed on one ormore clients, by a power management apparatus on a computing device, forpower management of the one or more clients, separate from the computingdevice, configured by the power management apparatus for collectingdata, via a data collector module, related to the power management ofone or more user accounts on the one or more clients, wherein collectingdata related to the power management of the one or more user accounts onthe one or more clients comprises: analyzing an amount of energy savedby the one or more users on the one or more clients based onconfiguration information of the one or more clients; managing powerusage of each of the one or more clients based on information related tothe collected data, wherein the collected data includes softwareconfiguration information and hardware configuration informationrelating to each of the one or more clients; and providing a subset ofthe collected data to the one or more users associated with the one ormore user accounts; and a client management module, on the computingdevice, for configuring the power management module on the one or moreclients, wherein configuring the power management module comprisesmaintaining the power management module on the one or more clients byperiodically updating the power management module; providing a one-clickutility to allow the one or more users to manage power usage associatedwith one or more user accounts; and storing, via a repository module,the collected data.
 14. The system according to claim 13, furthercomprising at least one custom module, wherein the at least one custommodule is configured for: analyzing, via an analysis module, on thecomputing device, the data stored in the repository module according tothe needs of the one or more users; making statistics, via a statisticalmodule, on the computing device, on the data stored in the repositorymodule according to the needs of the one or more users; presentinginformation, via a reporting module, on the computing device, to the oneor more users as desired; and tracking, via a tracking module, on thecomputing device, energy consumption.
 15. The system according to claim14, wherein the data stored in the repository module comprises theconfiguration information of the one or more clients.
 16. The systemaccording to claim 13, further configured for: installing and managingthe power management module on the one or more clients.
 17. The systemaccording to claim 13, wherein the power management comprises switchinga computer of the one or more clients to a power saving mode.
 18. Thesystem according to claim 13, wherein the data is stored in correlationwith the one or more user accounts.
 19. The apparatus according to claim1, wherein the collected data comprises a frequency at which the one ormore user accounts on the one or more clients actively switches to alow-energy model and a length of time at which the low-energy model isused by the one or more user accounts.
 20. The method according to claim7, wherein the collected data comprises a frequency at which the one ormore user accounts on the one or more clients actively switches to alow-energy model and a length of time at which the low-energy model isused by the one or more user accounts.